Industrial alarm systems are often used to maintain plant safety and meet regulatory requirements. An effective alarm system typically communicates indications of abnormal process conditions or equipment malfunctions to plant operators, personnel monitoring and operating industrial processes, or personnel supporting any required response. However, alarm systems are often designed overcautiously, which can lead to the issuance of too many alarms or the suppression of critical event information. Hence, without careful attention, alarm systems can become more of a liability than an asset over time.
An effective alarm management system may allow operators to focus on alarms that are critical or important, which in turn can improve plant operations, reduce nuisance trips and equipment downtime, increase and sustain process throughput, improve asset availability, and reduce maintenance costs. To this end, standards such as IEC 62682 and ISA18.2 provide guidance for identifying and eliminating nuisance alarms, performing thorough incident reviews, and managing alarm systems.